Welcome back to It Came from the Back of the Toybox, a segment where I take a look at the unknown, underrated, and unheard-of convertible robots in my collection!
Previously, I’ve wrote on Robo Machine, a mid-80s line that imported a collection of Bandai Machine Robo molds for European consumption. In 1984, Tonka began to import some of these toys with new fiction as Challenge of the GoBots.
The Challenge of the GoBots cartoon, animated by Hanna-Barbera, began airing in September 1984 with a five-part miniseries, a week ahead of Transformers’ own three part opener, and in 1985 it was followed up by a full series order. Their popularity boom was waning by 1986, however, and with original Bandai molds running out, Tonka chose to import the Rock Lords, also from the Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos toyline and anime.
With the second series of the GoBots cartoon cancelled due to being an unjustifiable cost, plans for its five-part opener were salvaged to become the feature film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords, advertising to children these strange new characters, from a world where an unspecified incident merged every living thing with rock. Despite being part of the GoBots canon, however, the Rock Lords were their own toy brand, except in Europe where they were part of the increasingly ridiculously named Robo Machine Presents GoBots: Rock Lords.
The resulting film was a sloppy and paceless mess, and the Rock Lords’ first and only animated outing became Challenge of the GoBots’ last hurrah. It first assaulted cinema-goers on the 21st of March, 1986, thirty years ago today.
Happy 30th anniversary, Battle of the Rock Lords!
Magmar, Rock Lord leader and Evil Kojak (a redeco of Cronos’ Devil Rock)
Tombstone, villainous second-in-command, Venger impressionist, and Xenomorph lookalike (redeco of Geiger Rock)
Brimstone, the B-movie type monster perfect for It Came from the Back of the Toybox’s logo (redeco of Bloody Rock)
Terra-Roc, one of planet Quartex’s hostile fauna the Rockasaurs (redeco of Rockgilan)
Rock Roller, the only heroic member of the three Shock Rocks, who gives a new meaning to the term “rolling stone” (never released in Japan??)
Scrs: http://counter-x.net/index.php
http://www.toyarchive.com/Rocklords.html
http://machinerobo.wikia.com/wiki/Rock_Lords
This is Flamestone, a heroic Jewel Lord (redeco of the Cronos’ Ruby Man). The three Jewel Lord toys were make of translucent plastic and diecast metal, with altmodes of precious gems. Only one, Solitaire, appeared in the Rock Lords movie.
This is what he looks like with a light behind him. He is almost entirely see-through. Cool, right?
